Import your (DRM-free) epubs and PDFs into Google Books

I can't believe I just found out about this, but Google has added upload functionality for your books to Google Play.

To upload a book on the web, just go to Google Play -> Books -> My Books (or go to https://play.google.com/books/uploads )...

 

Then, on the right side of the screen, click the "Upload files" button.

An upload dialog will appear.

Select the files you want to upload, and they will be immediately uploaded and imported! (Google notes that large files may take some time to be processed.)

Shared Feeds in the Sidebar

I've added a neat feature to the sidebar: my shared feeds from Google Reader. You can see the articles' titles on the sidebar, or you can go to the page (click 'read more...') where you can see the full article (or part of the article, depending on how the original site has it set up) and even subscribe to a feed of my shared items for the convenient ability to read it in your own feed reader!

(Consequently, article mentions will become rarer in the blog itself...)

Open Source CMS Summit 2007, Day 0

Today has been interesting so far. The day started as normal (Steve got up and out and then I did, later ;-) ). I went to the store to get Steve some food for while I'm away, and then I called Matt Rose and Lynn Britten to see if they'd be willing to play in Brighton. I got ahold of Lynn, and he said that, yes, he'd be willing, but he's out of town for the next concert, so contact him next season. I left a message for Matt, and have recently gotten a voicemail that said he could maybe swing a rehearsal and the concert, but that's about it.

So, after I did my calling, I went down to my parents' place, since mom drove me to the airport. She and I had chinese for lunch, and played a couple games of cribbage (she beat me on the first, but I skunked her on the second!). Then, she took me to the airport, and off I went.

The airport wasn't bad, even security didn't give me any hassles (apart from the usual hassle of going through security), but my flight's gate was A64, which was way the heck PAST the original 'A' terminal, down a flight of stairs, a huge walk down ANOTHER (somewhat ghetto) terminal, and at the very end. It was... interesting. There weren't jetways out that far; we boarded the plane via ramp. (The plane was small, about 70 passengers).

The flight was mostly uneventful. I took some pictures out the plane window (um... probably more than I should've), but I don't know how they turned out because I forgot to bring my card reader. :-/ The flight got in early, though, which was nice.

Scott picked me up at the airport in his shiny new Civic Hybrid, which is very nice and rides very smooth. Then, we went by Google for dinner and Scott gave me a whirlwind tour of the main campus. It's amazing. I was very awed, and quite a bit intimidated by all the people there (it was 8 at night, and there were still hordes of people about). Scott showed me his office, which is very cool as well.

On the way to Google, I saw buildings for these companies: Yahoo!, EMC, and Microsoft (seems like there was another one, but I don't remember what it was). It's kinda intimidating to even be near all these giants.

Now, we're back at Scott's apartment (I understand why he has an apartment now; he said that little crappy holes out in Palo Alto cost $1.4 million. Yeah. $1.4 million.), and he's helping Chris with calc and I'm here writing. It's a nice apartment, a decent size for a single.

I'm excited about tomorrow. I just hope my 'awe' circuit doesn't blow before I'm done with the trip. ;-)

Lost in the Googleplex

I had a very strange dream last night.

For some reason, Scott had decided to take me to work with him, so I was at the Googleplex, sitting at a nearby desk. I was trying to hook up my computer to do some work (and all of Google's computers were running Windows CE or ME or something... CLEARLY a dream [or nightmare?!]), and Scott's boss comes along and decides that she wants to hire me for some reason. The wage she offers isn't as much as I'm making now, but it's working for freakin' Google, so I accept. Then, there's a confusing part with beanbag chairs and cookies (?) and Scott and I go down to this bird sanctuary that Google has on their grounds (in the dream). And we go through an igloo to get there. After that refreshing break, Scott starts to give me a tour of the Googleplex. First we go into the area where they keep the "lower-grade" engineers, and then we end up walking through three movie theaters. Thereafter, Scott disappears, and I have to wander about the Googleplex for a while, but then I see some other people that we both know, and he's left us a riddle to try and find him, which is solved quickly. Somewhere in there I realize that I've completely missed the conference that I went to California to attend, too.

Bizarre. I wonder if it means anything, and, if so, what?

Scott's Googl-oscity (and my reactions thereto)

So, Google has apparently decided to hire Scott, which is, of course, amazing but not all that much of a surprise when you think about it... Scott's exactly the kind of person they want there: creative, intelligent, hard-working, social, unconventional, not to mention his mighty programming skillz. It's an excellent opportunity for him, and I am sure he'll do phenominally there.

Meanwhile (talking about me because it's my blog, darnit!), I am stuck contemplating my life and what I'm going to do with it. I'm sad (as well as excited) that Scott's going away in January. He's been my friend the second longest at CU, but he's certainly my closest (non romantic-type) friend right now, and although we'll still be in touch and working together, I'm going to miss him terribly, which is kinda sad since we often don't even spend much time together.

But that's not all that's going on in my head right now. Scott's going to work for Google, undoubtedly the best job in the industry, and meanwhile I'm here, doing irregular contract work for Not-Quite-Enough per hour (I'm not complaining too loudly about the money, though; it's good, but not what I'd like). I have the potential to follow him to Google -- I need some more experience first, but the potential is there -- but is that something I want to do?

He once said to me that he was sure I could work for Google, even if it was only in the IT dept (don't screw up there!), and, even though I'm sure he meant it as encouragement, it felt like a consolation prize. And I'm sitting here asking myself, not only "What do I want to do?" but, "Where is my potential for Greatness to be realized?" I sometimes wonder if I haven't made poor choices in remaining in the shadow of Scott and others. Yes, it's true, I didn't want the commitment and time that it would take to do some of those things, but maybe I should've taken them on anyway. I couldn't have beaten Scott for President of the chapter, after all (not only is he far more popular than I ever would be, he was the best person for the job. I truly believe that he is the best president the chapter has seen), but I have shirked away from leadership when opportunity has come my way.

And so we come to Scott leaving for Google. I'm confident, given another year or two (including waiting until Steve graduates) that I could get into Google, even if only as IT support staff. But is that something I want to do? If I go there, will I be following Scott, standing in his shadow and basking in his glow (to mix metaphors a bit)?

Ah, well, enough of the whining and complaining. I've got too many errands to run today (our pledges become Brothers tomorrow, yay!) and I need a shower. I shall contemplate.